Loss and Gain
by Mrs. Midian
Summary: What would you do if you lost something so precious to you only to find it later. What would you do if you had the choice of telling the truth? How would you change your own destiny?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first Naruto fic and really it's hard when I'm not getting help from Crys. Anyway try to be nice, I think...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but if i did....well lets not go there...**

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Chapter 1

Years ago a family was split apart because of one fateful decision. As the leaves rustled under the running feet of two young girls the darkness circled around them eerily. The attacking ninja squad surrounded the eight and fourteen-year-old girls with one mission; to kill. The elder girl stepped in front of her sister and held out her arms to block the path of the others. "Run," she shouted to the younger girl before she began the hand sign for shadow clone jutsu. The young girl began running on her own as five clones of the older girl appeared fighting with the ninjas.

Soon after the young girl heard the screams of her sister and as she ran towards a hill one of the ninjas had escaped and had caught up to her. The enemy ninja had managed a shot with his fist on the young girls head, which in turn knocked her out and caused her to roll down the other side of the hill. When Akehoshi seen what had happened, she swung her foot up and kicked him in the head before she rammed a kunai into his neck as he lay motionless on the soft and now bloodied ground.

As soon as the Kunai had hit, Asa sat up to scream and tried to catch her breath. 'Just another dream,' she thought as she rubbed her head. She glanced over and realized that the screaming she had heard was her alarm clock going off. Grumbling, she got up and stretched and realized she was supposed to meet Naruto at the ramen shop today.

After the realization hit, she got up and put her silver hair up into a perfect bun with her blue headband hanging from it; her bangs hanging to the sides of her face. She randomly began pulling on her black tank top and pants and to the door nearly tripping over her trench coat. She picked up the trench coat and put it on and began running down the street to the Ichiraku ramen shop.

"Asa what the hell, where have you been?" Naruto said rubbing his grumbling stomach. Asa rolled her eyes responding, "You know, if you had your own damn money you could've gotten your own food. It's not like I'm supposed to be paying for you in the first place." Naruto just laughed and they walked into the shop together talking quietly. "So Naruto, how have you and your team been, " Asa asked him.

"Well Sasuke's an ass all time 'cause he thinks he's better than every one else and Sakuras always hitting me, so normal I guess" " Ha ha", Asa chuckled. Just then a tall, black haired woman, who looked to be about in her early twenties came through the curtains. "Welcome to our ramen shop," the woman past the stand, said, "what kind would you like?" "Chicken please," replied the tall, black haired woman. A few moments later her order had come and within a few moments she had finished and had paid for her lunch. Naruto whispered," what's wrong Asa?"

"She reminds me of somebody but I can't think of whom."

Asa turned to see the woman was gone. "Hey where did she go?" "She just left," Naruto said, "why did you need something from her?" Asa replied," Yeah I needed to ask her a question really quick, Naruto I'll be right back ok." Asa rushed out of Ichiraku only to find out the mysterious woman had disappeared. Asa walked back into Ichiraku, "Damn I just missed her, oh well."

"Maybe she'll come in again", said Naruto. "No I doubt it she was wearing a sound village headband across her face like Kakashi's, really Naruto how could you not notice?" Asa looked at her watch and realized what time it was. "Shit! I was supposed to help Hinata today with some training." "Hey Naruto you want to come with me?"

"Yeah I guess so I got nothing better to do." After paying for the ten bowls of ramen (nine of which being Naruto's) they headed for the Hyuga house.

Once they got there they found Neji, Hinata and the Lord Hyuga in the backyard training. "Ah I thought I heard something back here," Asa said. "You're late" Lord Hyuga replied in a bad mood kind of tone. "Sorry sir, I got a bit sidetracked" "Well as you can see Hinata already has a new training partner, so your assistance is not needed anymore" "Very well then, " Asa said with a saddened voice," Hinata I'll probably train with you later ok" Hinata nodded in approval and Asa bowed a good bye and walked off the property. "Naruto I'm surprised you didn't say anything."

"Well if I know you as well as I do, you would have beaten the crap out of me if I did. "

"Wow you've actually learned something about me, I'm impressed."

"Yeah shut up smart ass." The two were interrupted as two somewhat tall girls were running towards them. One girl had medium pink hair; the other was blonde and had her hair in a wrap. "Ino, Sakura what are you doing here? " "Asa haven't you heard?" Ino announced.

"What heard what?" "Your brother and nephew are back in the village." Sakura added. "Really! I have to go see them!" Asa said excitedly," I'll see you guys later ok. Bye." Asa immediately ran for her brother and nephew's house.

Akehoshi landed with a loud thud on the ground before jumping up to her feet. She rubbed her head, grumbling as she walked towards the river. "Stupid nightmares made me fall out of another tree," she sighed pulling the black mask down uncovering her nose and mouth. "She's dead, what do these nightmares matter? I simply cannot perform this assassination if I am not thinking clearly." She had gone back to her old profession after she lost her little sister years back.

She had been angry when it was reported to her from Orochimaru himself. He smirked as she had dropped to her knees angrily and gave in to become the village's assassin. Silently to herself she sworn that he would pay some day, it may not be right now, but he will pay. As she stepped into the river she pulled her long black hair down out of its normal high up ponytail. The cool calming water engulfed her body calming her thoughts and cooling her body, removing the sweat from the past nights nightmares.

As she climbed out of the river her black mesh undershirt and her dark green tank top clung to her body as well as her tight black pants. She stared down at her reflection wondering if she was still the same girl from six years ago. Sure she had grown up and her body filled out nicely, not to mention the muscle from training, but her eyes still shown sadness and loss. That of which she had not shaken since the night she had said no to the orders from Orochimaru.

After having put her hair up, Akehoshi retied her black headband to cover her left eye and pulled the mask from her undershirt back over her nose and mouth. She had realized that she hadn't eaten since the afternoon before remembering why she hadn't eaten. The mark was such a pain in the ass to keep track of unless he was reading one of those girly magazines that made her roll her eyes.

She looked up at the sign as she entered into some kind of ramen house and was happy to find a place that served some good chicken ramen. She smiled to herself as she began eating her ramen and realized she should quickly leave so as not to be recognized later. She paid for her lunch and felt as if someone in the restaurant was watching her. She quickly left the building and jumped up onto the roof silently watching as the younger girl with silver hair run out. "Figures,"

Akehoshi said before jumping down the back way and walked back towards her post in the tree near her marks home. "What am I going to do with myself," She asked noticing that once again he was reading the same stupid magazine that he always reads. He walked towards the tree with his eyes never leaving the book and leaned back against her tree. 'Silent, be silent,' she pleaded with herself as she stared down at him trying not to shake.

"Homeless are we?" A voice came up to her ears, his eyes never leaving his book and she blinked. "It's a shame such a cute girl is reduced to live in a tree." This time she narrowed her eyes down at him wondering if he was talking to the girl in the book or herself. She opted for the latter and sat on the branch sighing letting her legs swing since he had seen her. "What about it?" She asked out loud.

The tall silver haired man looked up at her never leaving his spot on the tree. "Just saying that it is such a waste for a pretty girl to be living in a tree." She grumbled, "First of all, I am a woman and second of all I do not live in a tree." He irritated her even though she knew technically he was right; she did after all live in a tree.

It became apparent that not only did he notice her, but also he had been watching her all this time as she smacked her forehead. "How long have you seen me here?" She asked.

"Since yesterday I suppose." 'Great,' she thought. "You know," he started, "you look pretty strong, have you ever considered teaching?" She blinked. 'Me," she questioned herself, 'a teacher?' He smiled as if he knew what she was thinking. "I used to say the exact same thing, but look at me now," he grinned.

"Oh great, that is what I am afraid of." She rolled her eyes, but he only continued to smile. "What is your name anyway," he asked politely and even though she shouldn't have said it, she just couldn't help herself. "Natsunami,Akehoshi." The man nodded, "Ahh the legendary Akehoshi of the sound village." He glanced up at her headband in which a music note shone proudly. "I wouldn't say that exactly." She sighed and glanced at him.

"Your reputation precedes you Hatake, Kakashi." He just smiled some more, "I figured you knew my name already. Though I must tell you these three will be a bit of a challenge." She blinked confused momentarily. "What three?" He only grinned deviously and grabbed her leg, pulling her out of the tree.

She smacked herself in the head for allowing all this to happen. 'I am an assassin not a school teacher,' she thought to herself silently before glancing back at Kakashi. 'Why am I even here? I hate what I do and I hate who I work for.' Her mind kept trying to reason with her as to why it was refusing to listen to direct orders. Akehoshi was having an all out war inside her own mind and as if he knew everything Kakashi cued in.

"You even know it would be fun to try something new. You do not look so happy with the job you have right now," he continued on randomly, "Am I right?" This man has got to be the worst mark I have ever been hired to assassinate. He is irritating and at the same time he is simply irresistible. 'No,' she thought to herself, 'I am not thinking about this right now.' She just could not imagine herself teaching kids and settling down, possibly even finding love. It was not her bag, which she had lost years back.

Losing her sister had done her in. Akehoshi had tried having a relationship, but it just did not work out. Her mind went back to Kabuto instantly and once again regretted it. She did not know why she used to care for him. He was a good guy before Orochimaru got to him. 'It figures,' She thought to herself, 'everything always goes back to him.'

She shook her head slightly before realizing that once again Kakashi was staring at her thinking. Immediately she jumped back up into the tree. They had spent some time talking and since it was growing closer to night, Akehoshi decided to rest back in her tree even though he obviously knew she was there. All she remembered as she slept that night were images of her past once again coming to visit her.

Akehoshi stirred when a soft whispering voice came close to her ear. "You know, there is a reason no one sleeps in trees." Her left eye opened quickly only to see that she is no longer in her tree and the warmth she is feeling is that of someone behind her. 'No,' she thought, 'He wouldn't dare.' Oh but he would, her mind was telling her.

"You fell out of that damned tree again, so I brought you here." She blinked and leaned back before she realized that she wasn't leaning against pillows but instead he had been lying next to her. Quickly she jumped up and began pacing back and forth. "Relax," he said calmly, "nothing happened." He gave that mischievous grin and all she could do was sit back down before losing consciousness from over exhaustion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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Chapter 2

In her half-sleep state Akehoshi had woken with her eyes still closed and she had the strangest feeling. Something was moving around her body, somebody was lying next to her under a blanket. By this time she was wide awake with her eyes open and all, wondering where the hell she was and why she was under the covers with some strange person. "Oh yeah I passed out at what's his names house." She sat up.

"You do know causing you own injuries by falling out of trees can become a painful habit, by your standards anyway," Said kakashi. She looked over at her supposed mark.

"Shut up you bastard it's not like I do it on purpose," Akehoshi screamed.

"Ha-ha" kakashi chuckled, "that's why I got you a job."

"A…A job? What kind of job?"

"You're going be a new teacher"

"Are you out of your mind!"

"Not at all,"kakashi said enthusiastically. "I'll go tell your new students" kakashi gets up and walks out the door. "See ya later"

"Asshole"

* * *

"Kakashi you shit faced pervert, how dare you do this!" Asa said as her rage was getting the best of her by his news. Toritane and Keitaro were just sitting in the corner listening to their conversation/screaming contest. Toritane, however was a little pissed since he was now forced to waste his time on training and on a team with his short tempered half-sister and idiot nephew. Asa had the attitude of the group, while Toritane had the strange flamboyant personality, and Keitaro had the quiet peace keeping side.

"Would you two please stop," Keitaro said just loud enough for the Sensei and his team leader to hear.

"Beat him like Sakura beats Naruto-kun," Toritane said with a goofy grin. In fact for some reason the two boys had qualities like some of the other young nin of Konoha. Toritane resembled Naruto while for the strangest reason his nephew Keitaro resembled Rock Lee.

Asa shook her head as she listened to the two of them and wondered how she had fit in with the family. She was told she was found and adopted, but she never had the closure of finding out who her real family was. She went to turn and shoot another death glare at Kakashi-sensei but he had gone, "You perverted idiot where did you go!?"

* * *

Akehoshi was glad he left her by herself. It gave her enough time to sneak out the gates and run to a clearing to relieve her excess anger. "How could I let him do that to me," she muttered to herself practicing her ninjitsu. "Orochimaru would kill me if he found out….not like it would matter what he did to me anyway."

"That's not a nice thought to think about, especially if you should be concentrating on your training," the annoying matter of fact tone made her growl and turn back towards him.

"I should have known you would've found me with that damn sharingan eye of yours.

Kakashi's mask twitched slightly as if he shot a small smile, "Yeah and your team is waiting for you Akehoshi-sensei."

"I have no intention of going. If found out I could be killed and it is obvious I am not from your village," Akehoshi muttered pointing towards her headband.

Kakashi just shook his head, "First of all I spoke to the Hokage and there was an understanding between us." He grabbed her arm dragging her back into the village, "Secondly, you will have a seal placed on you so that to everyone but members of your own village your headband will appear to be a leaf village band." He dragged her into his home and pushed her into the bathroom and shut the door. "Finally, I will help with the training at first. Now there is a pair of clothing in there to change into and when you come out I will place the seal on you."

Akehoshi was very unhappy with the situation and changed into the clean clothes luckily sharing the same style and colors as her own. "So what am I doing all this for anyway,"

Kakashi's one eye watched her carefully as if thinking about the right words to say, "Obviously you are not happy with your job and you don't have any other way out. Plus with this it would fit our story." Akehoshi was pretty sure she didn't want to know as she sat on the edge of the bed and waited for the curse mark. She took into account how he barely had any furniture in this room at all, not like she paid any attention to the rest of the house.

The girl's left eye came back to peer curiously at Kakashi as he slowly pulled her headband off his fingertips just brushing against her forehead. She shivered and watched him suspiciously as he performed a hand sign on her headband and replaced it back on her for her. "Are you sure this is going to work," she asked very unsure of his ideas.

"Oh yes, you are also going to need this," he tossed a black box towards her and laughed before slipping out the door.

She was unsure why he left so quickly or wondered if she was supposed to follow him, but curiosity got the best of her and made her open the little black box. "What the…..Hatake!"

* * *

Kakashi poofed back in front of the team looking extremely pleased with himself. "Now what are you so happy about pervert," Asa raised an eyebrow watching him carefully. Suddenly there was a loud sound and the older man side stepped in time for another person to run right by him and slide to a stop.

"I see you saw my present sweetheart," Kakashi said with an amused smile.

"I am not your sweetheart," the woman yelled not even noticing the three young teens. Asa looked at the woman and recognized her as the woman from the ramen shop.

She almost let her guard down in excitement, "Hey pervert who is this?"

"This young beautiful woman here," Kakashi started while sliding an arm around Akehoshi only for it to be slapped away," is Natsunami, Akehoshi or as you will call her Akehoshi-sensei. She is my fiancée because of an arranged marriage. Speaking of which, honey where is your ring?" Suddenly before he could react Akehoshi swiped her hand upside his head leaving a ring and palm imprint on his cheek. The ring dropped to the ground and she huffed and turned towards the kids eyeing each one of them with her left eye.

"Sweet," Toritane exclaimed while Asa just watched her with awe and Keitaro backed shyly away.

"State your names and ranks," Akehoshi said calmly assessing each from their body language and voices as they answered.

"Hatabi, Toritane Genin," replied the boy with blond hair and blue eyes with an odd look on his face.

"Shinido, Keitaro Genin," said the shy boy with black hair in a bowl cut and oddly shaped eyes. Akehoshi turned to the only girl of the group and thought she recognized her but realized it was only the girl from the ramen shop.

"Hatabi, Asa Genin," she said with great confidence.

"Ah we have a leader," Akehoshi said as her left eye showing only a hint of emotion compared to the rest of her face. "Alright you have the day to yourselves but in the morning bright and early be at the training grounds."

The three shouted, "Hai Akehoshi-sensei," at once then went off on their own.

Akehoshi watched the one female silently as they walked away before Kakashi's hand reached for her shoulder. "She reminds me of myself," she mumbled softly before pulling away and walking back to his house to sit up in her tree.

"Come down from there," he said irritated that she walked away from him.

"Why should I? You didn't even warn me about your stupid story," she bit back as one foot hung from the branch and swung slowly.

"I didn't have time to, I had to make sure you met your team," Kakashi replied before sighing. "Now will you please come down from there, we have to make this story work. It's the only one we have and it is the only way to free you from your past."

Akehoshi swiftly jumped down and threw Kakashi against the side of his own house, "You know nothing of my past and even if you did it would not matter. The bastard will find me and kill anyone in his way to keep me under his services. Is that clear?"

Kakashi just sighed and nodded, "What is there to lose though?"

He was right, what was there to lose? Her heart died long ago when her precious baby sister died. She stared down at the ground and let him go backing up slowly before dropping to her knees. She had sworn to get back at Orochimaru for what he had done, but all this time instead of focusing on that she had worked for him without even giving herself a second option. She wondered why he wouldn't just kill her, it was obvious by now that he was her mark. Why was he being so kind to her? She felt shut down inside, so much so that she wasn't even aware of her surroundings. Her once bright green eyes became dark and dull even though he could only see one of them. He felt bad, but at the same time it was kind of awkward. He didn't know how to react so he just lifted her and took her inside the house. Laying her down on the bed he covered her up hoping that maybe if she got some sleep she would be okay. Someone in that much pain shouldn't be in the profession that she was in. He silently left the room to give her some privacy to herself.

* * *

Asa was once again walking with Naruto to the ramen shop only she was actually quiet for once contemplating her new sensei. "What's wrong Asa-chan," Naruto asked loudly bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Oh I…I saw that woman again," Asa said looking up at the boy beside her.

"Well who was she," He asked suddenly excited to hear about the new nin.

"Her name is Natsunami, Akehoshi. She is my team's sensei. Apparently she is also Kakashi-sensei's fiancée."

Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared at Asa, "Kakashi-sensei is engaged?!" Asa just nodded in response and kept walking to the ramen house as he followed. Sitting inside was Shino, Kiba, and Okamaru obviously waiting for Hinata to show up. Kiba waved to Asa calling her over even though he didn't seem to want Naruto coming over. The group excluding Hinata just put up with Naruto for Asa and Hinata's sake.

Once Hinata joined the group they all greeted her warmly and sat together with their ramen. "Did you guys hear about the new sensei," Naruto said showing his excitement.

"No, we didn't," Shino said calmly showing little to no emotion about what had Naruto so interested in the subject.

"Naruto," Asa started, "It's none of our business to tell about her, especially if they do not want to hear it."

"Wait," Kiba started suddenly looking interested, "It's a woman?"

"I…I'd like t…to hear Asa-chan," Hinata said softly. Asa nodded and began describing the new sensei to her friends.

"She sounds amazing, right Okamaru," Kiba said as the dog yipped.

"Well her name is Natsunami, Akehoshi and I've never heard that name before here," Asa continued.

"Well there is the possibility that she's from another village, but why would she be teaching here," Shino asked thinking over the possibilities in his head.

"Because she's in an arranged engagement to Kakashi-sensei," Asa answered causing all of them except for Naruto to stop and stare at her.

"T…that's s…so sweet though. M…Maybe we c…could help her with the wedding p…preparations Asa-chan," Hinata said blushing lightly. Asa just nodded thinking that would be a good way to find out more information on the new sensei.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: No Naruto Ownyness**

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Chapter 3

It was strange as she slept, she could see it all over again. This time it was slightly different as she was reaching her hand out to her little sister just barely unable to grasp it. "Grab it," Akehoshi yelled watching the young girl struggle to hold on and reach her. Suddenly the younger girl was gone and another nin came from behind her to hold a kunai to her cheek. Instead of it cutting though it began…licking her?

Akehoshi grumbled waking up but keeping her eyes closed as she moved her face away from the licking, "I swear Hatake if that's you…" Suddenly laughter erupted around her and she shot up opening her eyes. In front of her was a little white dog that began yipping happily as she woke up. Looking to her right she noticed six teens only recognizing the one female.

"Asa, what are all of you doing here," she asked the girl before watching the dog jump off the bed and run to the one male of the group who had strange markings on his cheeks.

"Akehoshi-sensei, these are my friends they wanted to meet you and…," the girl stopped not wanting to say the next part.

"Akehoshi-san, w we uh we t thought w we would h help y you with the uh preparations…," the only other girl of the group responded.

"Oh she's so cute," Akehoshi said quickly moving towards Hinata and hugging her which turned Hinata's face a rather bright pink quickly. "Wait…what preparations," Akehoshi regained her composure and let the girl go now eyeing her with her visible eye.

"The wedding preparations of course, believe it," the blond haired boy said causing Akehoshi to look away from the blushing girl to him.

A sweat drop appeared on her forehead, "Oh…I forgot." The older girl then began surveying all of them quietly while moving back to sit on the bed, "Well introduce yourselves." Once she had learned all of their names as Naruto, Hinata, Neji who had joined after they left the ramen shop, Shino, Kiba, and Kiba's dog Akamaru. The older girl looked to Hinata and Neji, "Are you two siblings?"

The two shook their heads and Neji finally spoke, "No we are cousins."

Akehoshi nodded, "At least that's family after my si…never mind. I have no family."

She looked to the ground and suddenly Naruto had run up to her and hugged her, "It's okay Akehoshi-san, I have no family either." Twitching slightly she allowed him to hug her before he removed himself and sat back with the other teens.

"Well I'm glad you are all here, because I know nothing about weddings," Akehoshi said putting her hand up to the back of her head and laughing slightly. She didn't know how long she could last with these teens around; she only knew she had to at least pretend to be friendly. She had no idea why she had gone and hugged Hinata like that though. Well besides that it had seemed that the poor girl did the same as she and put on a happy front for everyone. Then the truth had hit her. They had came to help with wedding preparations, would she really have to marry Hatake? She had no idea what she would do if that time actually came and then she realized he wasn't even there, "Where is Kakashi-san?"

Hinata giggled slightly before responding, "H he said we could come s see you as long as w we k keep you c company. He w went out t to g get something." Akehoshi just groaned not sure if once again she even wanted to know what he had gone out for. She looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed that three of the young men had been staring quietly at her and she was beginning to get unconsciously nervous.

"Is there something that one of the three of you would like to ask," she said directly to Shino, Kiba, and Neji.

"Yeah," Kiba started, "why are you getting married to Kakashi-san?" The young woman just rolled her eyes thinking of what she could possibly say to answer that.

"No choice," she finally said which seemed to not help the looks she was getting from the three young men. Suddenly her stomach grumbled to which the teens all began to laugh again.

"Don't worry Akehoshi-sensei," Asa began getting up and pulling Hinata with her, "We'll go and find something to make for us all, if not we'll run out really quick to get some food."

Akehoshi just nodded slightly trying hide her discomfort with being left with the boys, "Shouldn't one of you go help them if they have to go out?"

In her amazing amount of displeasure the only one who got up to go help the females was Naruto, the only boy that hadn't been staring at her since she woke up. Akamaru seemed to have sensed her discomfort as he padded away from Kiba and jumped back onto the bed only resting when he came to Akehoshi's lap.

"Can't you tell him no," Neji asked quietly and Akehoshi only replied with shaking her head.

"As you can tell," she began, "I am not from this village. If I were to refuse him, I would either be driven out or killed." The boys all looked like they wanted to go find Kakashi and strangle him which confused the girl greatly.

"Is everything okay in here honey," Kakashi's voice had never seemed so nice to her before that moment. The boys all looked to the floor silently brooding as the man walked in and gave her a kiss on the forehead with his mask still attached to his face.

Akehoshi gave her sweetest smile, "Oh it was perfect…" The boys couldn't help but snicker a bit as Kakashi rolled his eyes and moving to put something away. The man then began packing things into a bag silently and making his way around the room.

"Where are you going Hatake," Akehoshi said raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi just looked at her as he replied, "The hokage is sending me on an important mission and I will be gone for two weeks." He then turned to the boys in the room, "I expect you guys to keep an eye on her and protect her." The three teens just nodded smiling slightly and Akehoshi wanted to slap her own forehead because of it.

'Oh well at least I won't have to deal with Hatake for two weeks,' she thought to herself and waited for the two girls and Naruto to return with the food. After the entire group ate Kakashi ushered the teens and the dog out of his house and sat next to Akehoshi on the bed, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she started and turned to look at him, "why did you ask those boys to watch after me while you are gone?"

He seemed to stop and think for a minute and put his arm around her surprised that she didn't smack him away this time, "I ran into an old friend of yours today outside the village. He didn't seem too happy that I was still alive and he couldn't find you. It's just for your protection while I'm away and you'll be really busy with your students and other things so you will hardly notice."

She seemed to freeze knowing which friend he was speaking about; she was going to be in so much trouble. The entire town was going to be in so much trouble because of this. She blinked and looked up when she felt the bed move to see Kakashi remove his vest and his shirt before removing his mask. Her jaw dropped when she saw his full face for the first time, it was better than she had imagined. Not that she would ever admit to imagining it in the first place.

"What," he asked when he had noticed her staring, "I don't sleep with my mask on, but this morning you freaked out so you didn't even notice." Akehoshi mentally smacked herself because of the thought that she could've noticed sooner.

"Why do you keep your mask on around others? I know you take it off when you sleep too," he said softly knowing that the mask would be hiding her blush right now.

"I've never been able to look at myself in the mirror since that night…so I don't let anyone else see me as well," she responded so softly that he wasn't sure if she spoke at all. Slowly he walked over and knelt in front of her raising his hands up to her face. He slowly unclasped her mask and slid it off of her face before putting it on the small table beside the bed. Kakashi slowly ran his fingers across her cheek and she looked away not wanting to admit to herself that he was looking at her full face.

He pulled her head band off before letting her long black hair down just smiling before he laid her down and pulled the covers over her before sliding into his side of the bed. She felt so weak, but he hadn't taken advantage of that. Her mind continued to spin as he just wrapped an arm around her and fell asleep. Fitfully, she was finally able to fall asleep next to him wondering just what would happen while he was gone.

* * *

Upon waking up the first things noticed by Akehoshi was that the bed was cold, her mask was placed back on her and once again she was being licked, "Ugh again with the licking." The girl sat up and lightly scratched Akamaru behind the ears.

"Yeah, yeah good morning to you too," she said softly and out of the corner of her eyes she noticed each of the six teens that she had met the night before only this time the two other boys from her squad were there as well. The girl just sighed and moved Akamaru before standing to go into the bathroom. After taking a quick shower she dried herself off and began putting on the clothes that were left for her. She got on the black mesh shirt and had put on her black pants before looking at the last piece of clothing and screaming, "Hatake!"

The teens all flinched when she threw the door open and came out fuming. Instead of the dark green tank top she usually wore there was another dark green article of clothing over top of the black mesh that seemed to be way too short to be a shirt. The boys just stared at her when she pulled her long black hair up into a pony tail.

"Well, what are you all staring at? Let's get going to the training grounds," The older girl said as everyone got up and began heading to their destination. At the field Akehoshi called her three into the middle of the field.

"For today I just want to see what you three can do. Asa I want you to go against Keitaro, whichever one of you wins will go against Toritane," Akehoshi said before standing back to watch.

Asa won against both boys far too quickly and Akehoshi mentally smacked herself. She wasn't expecting it although somewhere inside her she hoped that the young girl would. Though for the two boys it seemed there was so much work to do. Keitaro needed to work on believing himself and strategy where as Toritane was much too lazy and needed to work on keeping quiet. The main part that Asa needed to work on was keeping her anger under a lid until it would be useful. Her anger made her sloppy and she couldn't begin to wonder how such sloppy moves could let her win, but she did.

"Alright good job and since you're all going to be following me anyway we might as well go get some lunch," Akehoshi said and began leading them back to the ramen shop.

While all sitting together in a booth Toritane and Keitaro excused themselves before Hinata spoke up, "Akehoshi-san w when c can w we start w working on t the w wedding p preparations?"

Suddenly four squealing girls popped out of another booth and ran over, "Who's getting married," the one with pink hair and the one with long blond hair said at the same time. Akehoshi raised her hand slightly while keeping her chin on her other hand leaning on the table.

"To who," the other two slightly more reserved girls asked.

"A Akehoshi-san is m marrying Kakashi-sensei," Hinata responded for the older girl and the four girls squealed again. Akehoshi did all she could to keep from slamming her head on the table in front of her. Now instead of having six teens following her she'd be having ten teens following with her with four of them being squealing little school girls. Akehoshi paid for her lunch and stood aware of all ten teens following her back to Kakashi's house.

The entire group sat in the living room which had much more furniture than Akehoshi had even imagined, although it was messy and littered with kunai and shuriken.

"Ugh, this house is a mess," Sakura said looking around her.

"Yeah, but we'll have to take care of that before the wedding as well," Ino said nodding to Sakura.

Akehoshi remained quiet letting the girls take over because not only did she not have any idea on how to prepare for a wedding, but she also had no idea what to do when it came to house cleaning, cooking and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to go through with this wedding.

"Well there's the dress and the flowers and this house, and later on that night…," Akehoshi was barely listening to the girls rambling on and the last few words seemed to get annoyed glances from the boys.

"Akehoshi-san do you even know how to cook," asked one of the two more quiet girls that caught Akehoshi's attention.

"Hn…no, I only know how to make snacks and what not," Akehoshi returned receiving incredulous looks from everyone in the room. "What? With my previous job and the lack of any female figure around I've never been taught nor had the time to learn."

All ten teens rushed at her and hugged her at the same time causing her to fall backwards, "Uh thanks I think." Hinata took Akehoshi's hand and pulled her into the kitchen to see what was in the refrigerator to make. All that was left in the refrigerator was a carton of milk, which made Akehoshi laugh before she turned to look at the table and seen a note on it with a small bag.

_Akehoshi-chan,_

_Please use this to get some food and clothing for yourself. You can also get anything special you need or want. Make sure you start planning with the girls and you may also want to get a nice kimono, they will probably want to put together a gathering to celebrate our engagement._

_Kakashi_

Akehoshi sighed and attached the bag to her hip. She was tired already and the afternoon barely started. It was hard to have so much attention when her job required a lot of stealth and not being noticed. It felt so different from home where she was pretty much ignored unless they needed her. As she was pulled out of the kitchen she noticed the other nine teens where standing waiting to see what would be happening since Akehoshi and Hinata weren't making any noises in the kitchen. For the first time since she met Hinata the younger girl stood firm and began separating all the teens into teams.

"Asa-chan a and Naruto-kun, take this a and go g get s some f food," she said handing a little bit of money to the two nin as they nodded and took off. "Ino-chan and Kiba-kun and y yes you too Akamaru, I n need you t to f find s some n nice t things f for the h house. Sakura-chan, I n need y you to g get some m medical s supplies incase Kakashi-sensei c comes b back h hurt. Ten-ten-chan and Temari-chan, I n need you t two to start cleaning with Shino-kun m making sure n nothing g gets damaged. Finally, Neji nii-san and I will escort Akehoshi shopping for things she needs to get."

All the teens nodded to Hinata even though the other two boys just seemed to glare at Neji before the three of them left Kakashi's house to go to the market place. After obtaining some clothing, a kimono, and a few other things to keep Akehoshi busy for a while they noticed a small trinket shop in which something caught Akehoshi's eye. They followed her into the store where she found a decent sized music box and just continued to stare at it.

"I see you like that music box," the shop keeper said smiling slightly, "Would you like to know about it?" Akehoshi just nodded numbly and listened to him.

"It was said that its previous owner had gone missing seven years ago, but it was a very special music box. It was given to her as a child by her future husband in hopes of growing closer to the girl. After her parents were murdered it was said that she tried escaping with her younger sister and no one has ever seen either one of them again. One day a man showed up in my shop and told me to hold onto it in hopes that one day its original owner would come and find it. I've had it ever since."

"Tell me," Akehoshi started, "was the original owner Natsunami, Akehoshi?" The man stared up at the older girl in the group and nodded just staring at her. "I hid it safely in my sister's bag the night we tried to run. I was fighting for our lives when I told her to run. I've never seen her since, but they all told me she was dead. I didn't even remember this music box until I saw it sitting here in your shop. How much would you like for it?"

The man just shook his head and handed it to her, "It was yours and it still is. I'm not going to ask you for money for it just because it came into my shop. I am glad you are alright though. You seem well and you may not know it, but I was a close friend with your father. He'd be proud if he saw you today."

Akehoshi just nodded thankfully and left the store with the music box in her hands. The three moved to an empty spot and sat down quietly the younger two just staring at Akehoshi slightly. "I completely forgot all of this. I was so angry with the people that hurt my family that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind," Akehoshi said trying to keep the tears from coming to her eyes.

Carefully she opened the dark wooden lid and a song she remembered from her childhood began playing from the box. "He used to sing me to sleep with this song," she reminisced softly as she looked down at the contents of the box. The only objects in the box seemed to be a stuffed bear with a leaf ninja headband, a letter written long ago, a small black box, and a photo from when she was younger. Pulling out the picture first she gasped as she saw who was in it with her.

Hinata saw the picture and giggled slightly before saying, "I it's Kakashi-sensei from w when y you w were both y younger. It's s so c cute." Akehoshi smiled rubbing the back of her head before pulling out the box next finding her old engagement ring remembering how big it was on her when she was smaller; she slid it onto her finger to find it fit perfectly now. The letter seemed to be from Kakashi and she noted that it was the bear she had made of him when they were younger. Quietly she put everything back into the box except her ring and placed the box in one of the bags that Neji was carrying. "Is that all," Akehoshi asked hoping that it was and as the other two nodded they made their way back to Kakashi's house. Neji set the bags in the living room when they arrived noticing that the place was now astoundingly clean and the others had returned as well. Akehoshi slid down to the floor and began rolling around as Akamaru had run up to her and began licking her again.

"You guys where gone for a while, is everything okay," Kiba asked wanting to be his dog at the moment.

"Y yes Kiba-kun," Hinata began, "w we r ran into s something u unexpected."

"Yeah we found something too," Temari said holding out a replica picture of Akehoshi and Kakashi. Akehoshi opened up the music box and held out her picture as well.

"Yeah I had completely forgotten about all that, I was only recently reminded that I was engaged to Kakashi-san," She said holding up her hand with the original engagement ring on it. It was going to be a long two weeks for the older girl.


End file.
